The Problem of Pain

"If God is good and all-powerful, why does he allow his creatures to suffer pain?" And what of the suffering of animals, who neither deserve pain nor can be improved by it? The greatest Christian thinker of our time sets out to disentangle this knotty issue. With his signature wealth of compassion and insight, C. S. Lewis offers answers to these crucial questions and shares his hope and wisdom to help heal a world hungering for a true understanding of human nature.

Mere Christianity

One of the most popular and beloved introductions to the concept of faith ever written, Mere Christianity has sold millions of copies worldwide. This audiobook brings together C. S. Lewis' legendary radio broadcasts during the war years, in which he set out simply to "explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times."

The Four Loves

In this remarkable recording, C.S. Lewis shows why millions of readers have acclaimed him the greatest spokesman for Christianity in the twentieth century. In a resonant, baritone voice, Lewis explores the nature of the four Greek words that are translated love in English: "storge" (affection), "philia" (friendship), "eros" (sexual or romantic love) and "agape" (selfless love).

The Weight of Glory

Selected from sermons delivered by C. S. Lewis during World War II, these nine addresses show the beloved author and theologian bringing hope and courage in a time of great doubt. "The Weight of Glory", considered by many to be Lewis’s finest sermon of all, is an incomparable explication of virtue, goodness, desire, and glory.

The Screwtape Letters

A masterpiece of satire, this classic has entertained and enlightened readers the world over with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life from the vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to "Our Father Below". At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, C. S. Lewis gives us the correspondence of the worldly-wise old devil to his nephew Wormwood, a novice demon in charge of securing the damnation of an ordinary young man. The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging and humorous account of temptation - and triumph over it - ever written.

Miracles

"The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation. They say that God became Man. Every other miracle prepares the way for this, or results from this." This is the key statement of Miracles, in which C. S. Lewis shows that a Christian must not only accept but rejoice in miracles as a testimony of the unique personal involvement of God in his creation.

C. S. Lewis: Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces

This is an extensive collection of short essays and other pieces by C. S. Lewis that have been brought together in one volume for the first time. As well as his many books, letters, and poems, Lewis also wrote a great number of essays and shorter pieces on various subjects. He wrote extensively on Christian theology and the defense of faith but also on various ethical issues and on the nature of literature and storytelling. In this essay collection we find a treasure trove of Lewis' reflections on diverse topics.

Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold

Set in the pre-Christian world of Glome on the outskirts of Greek civilization, it is a tale of two princesses: the beautiful Psyche, who is loved by the god of love himself, and Orual, Psyche's unattractive and embittered older sister, who loves Psyche with a destructive possessiveness. Her frustration and jealousy over Psyche's fate sets Orual on the troubled path of self-discovery. Lewis's last work of fiction, this is often considered his best by critics.

The Pilgrim's Regress

The first book written by C.S. Lewis after his conversion, The Pilgrim's Regress is, in a sense, a record of Lewis's own search for meaning and spiritual satisfaction that eventually led him to Christianity.

The Everlasting Man

Few people had a more profound effect on Christianity in the 20th century than G. K. Chesterton. The Everlasting Man, written in response to an anti-Christian history of humans penned by H.G. Wells, is considered Chesterton’s masterpiece. In it, he explains Christ’s place in history, asserting that the Christian myth carries more weight than other mythologies for one simple reason—it is the truth.

God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics

C. S. Lewis was a profound thinker with the rare ability to communicate the philosophical and theological rationale of Christianity in simple yet amazingly effective ways. God in the Dock contains 48 essays and 12 letters written by Lewis between 1940 and 1963 for a wide variety of publications.

Orthodoxy

Written by G. K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy addresses foremost one main problem: How can we contrive to be at once astonished at the world and yet at home in it? Chesterton writes, "I wish to set forth my faith as particularly answering this double spiritual need, the need for that mixture of the familiar and the unfamiliar which Christendom has rightly named romance."

Reflections on the Psalms

In one of his most enlightening works, C. S. Lewis shares his ruminations on both the form and the meaning of selected psalms. In the introduction he explains, "I write for the unlearned about things in which I am unlearned myself." Consequently, he takes on a tone of thoughtful collegiality as he writes on one of the Bible's most elusive books.

The Pilgrim's Progress: From This World to That Which Is to Come

For 300 years, The Pilgrim's Progress has remained perhaps the best-loved and most read of devotional fictions. In plain yet powerful and moving language, Bunyan tells the story of Christian's struggle to attain salvation and the Gates of Heaven. He must pass through the Slough of Despond, ward off the temptations of Vanity Fair, and fight the monstrous Apollyon. In Part II, his wife and children follow the same path, helped and protected by Great-heart, until for them, too, "the trumpets sound on the other side."

George MacDonald

C. S. Lewis wrote of George MacDonald: "I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself." Lewis also claimed that everything he wrote was influenced by this Scottish pastor and novelist who lived a century before Lewis. George MacDonald serves as an act of appreciation, with Lewis gathering 365 of the best and most profound lines from his mentor as well as providing a preface detailing the impact MacDonald had on Lewis' own literary and spiritual career.

The Pursuit of God

During a train trip from Chicago to Texas in the late 1940s, A.W. Tozer began to write The Pursuit of God. He wrote all night, and when the train arrived at his destination, the rough draft was done. The depth of this book has made it an enduring favorite.

Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ

Even people who are not professing Christians think they are familiar with the story of the Nativity. Every Christmas, displays of Jesus resting in a manger populate lawns and churchyards, and songs about shepherds and angels fill the air. Yet despite the abundance of these Christian references in popular culture, how many of us have examined the hard edges of this biblical story? Timothy Keller takes listeners on an illuminating journey into the surprising background of the Nativity.

The Cost of Discipleship

What can the call to discipleship, the adherence to the word of Jesus, mean today to the businessman, the soldier, the laborer, or the aristocrat? What did Jesus mean to say to us? What is his will for us today? Drawing on the Sermon on the Mount, Dietrich Bonhoeffer answers these timeless questions by providing a seminal reading of the dichotomy between "cheap grace" and "costly grace."

Miracles

"The central miracle asserted by Christians is the Incarnation. They say that God became Man. Every other miracle prepares the way for this, or results from this." This is the key statement of Miracles, in which C.S. Lewis shows that a Christian must not only accept but rejoice in miracles as a testimony of the unique personal involvement of God in His creation.

On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision

This concise guide is filled with sidebars and memorizable steps to help Christians stand their ground and defend their faith with reason and precision. In his engaging style, Dr. Craig offers four arguments for God's existence, defends the historicity of Jesus' personal claims and resurrection, addresses the problem of suffering, and shows why religious relativism doesn't work. Along the way, he shares his story of following God's call in his own life.

Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer

In the form of warm, relaxed letters to a close friend, C. S. Lewis meditates on many puzzling questions concerning the intimate dialogue between man and God. He considers practical and metaphysical aspects of prayer, such as when we pray and where. He questions why we seek to inform God in our prayers if he is omniscient, whether there is an ideal form of prayer, and which of our many selves we show to God while praying.

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Dubbed the "Dumb Ox" by his classmates for his shyness, Saint Thomas Aquinas proved to be possessed of the rarest brilliance, justifying the faith of his teacher, Albertus Magnus, and sparking a revolution in Christian thought. Chesterton's unsurpassed examination of Aquinas' thinking makes his philosophy accessible to listeners of any generation.

Fool’s Talk: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion

In the post-Christian context, public life has become markedly more secular and private life infinitely more diverse. Yet many Christians still rely on cookie-cutter approaches to evangelism and apologetics. Most of these methods assume that people are open to, interested in, and needy for spiritual insight when increasingly most people are not. The urgent need, then, is the capacity to persuade - to make a convincing case for the Gospel to people who are not interested in it.

Publisher's Summary

Have we been taught to discount the veracity and deeper meaning of our emotional resonance with the world around us? In The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis looks at the curriculum of the English "prep school" and begins to wonder if this subliminal teaching has indeed produced a generation who discount such a nature.

In The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis's classic vision of the Afterworld, the narrator boards a bus on a drizzly English afternoon and embarks on an incredible voyage through Heaven and Hell. He meets a host of supernatural beings far removed from his expectations, and comes to some significant realizations about the nature of good and evil.

What the Critics Say

"These two short works by Lewis are a fine introduction to his eloquent writing, as well as his thought....Robert Whitfield's disciplined and well-modulated voice has an appealingly confident quality." (AudioFile)

"The Great Divorce" is an unfortunate title for our modern ears. It is a Dante-esque fantasy about a man's journey to Purgatory and/or Hell and then to the beginnings of Heaven. The title comes as a counter to the mistaken assertion that there is a possiblity of the marriage of Heaven and Hell. The narrator meets with several types of sinner and witnesses their encounters with angelic beings who give them every chance and encouragement to enter into heaven. Lewis (who is the narrator it would seem) meets up with his spiritual mentor (George MacDonald) and converses with him. How many of us hope that when our turn comes, C.S. Lewis will be there waiting for us?
"The Abolition of Man" is a short, pithy, brilliant work, originally lectures, on the natural law and its necessity for good living. It is a pleasure to read/hear such solid, jargon-free prose expressing clearly and without dumbing-down such important ideas.
Robert Whitfield, as usual, reads with clarity and elegance.

Computer Programmer and Worship Leader. Have enjoyed reading since my mom got me hooked on Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie prior to my teen years. My brother got me hooked on audio books after I started having a longer commute to work.
Love a variety of genres.

It is amazing that such a short work of fiction such as "The Great Divorce" can offer such tremendous insights into not only human nature, but also the question of "How can a loving God allow the existence of hell".

I was absolutely blown away by this book when I was in my late teens/early twenties and now over twenty years later, it remains my favorite among Lewis' works of fiction and still ranks as one of the best 10 books I've ever read.

Lewis' portrayal of hell is extremely fascinating, and in many ways unique, but the strength of the book, in my opinion, is the interaction between the ghosts (redeemed saints) and their former acquaintances from their days of life on earth.

The three that stick most in my mind are the interactions of a murder victim with his murderer (with their present residences a reverse of what you would think), the discussion between two theologians who have come to very different perspectives, and a conversation with a mother who wrestles with forgiving God for the death of her young child.

Besides being Lewis' best work of fiction, I also believe TGD is one of his most accessible among his works of fiction intended for adults.

I cannot recommend "The Great Divorce" highly enough. While having "The Abolition of Man" is a great bonus, TGD is worth the price in and of itself.

The Great Divorce was absolutely fascinating and held my attention to the very end. I loved the reader and the content challenged my traditional ideas about eternity. Great book. The Abolition of Man was a little weighty for me however. More philosophical than I care for.

This book was fantastic for those seeking an interesting, though admittedly not 100% original, view on the afterlife and what happens, and ultimately what choices we have in the eternal destination of our souls.

I found the narrator to be wonderful and clear to understand while giving the reading an authenticity brought on wholly by the fact that he had an English accent.

I am apparently easily pleased in the arena of authenticity.

Anyway, this was a fun and informative and thought provoking listen and I whole heartedly recommend it to anyone that is interested in heaven, C.S. Lewis, Hell or any of the above.

C.S. Lewis has a graceful way of illustrating complex truths in an understandable manner. Lewis has a unique insight into the human condition. This book is a quick and entertaining listen, and imparts wisdom that lasts for eternity.

Hard to go wrong with C.S. Lewis, and this is no exception. His writing is clean, and simple, but beautifully descriptive. The story unfolds quickly, but even though the puzzle of the "what is going on here" is solved within only a few chapters, the subsequent development is even more intriguing. It's on read/hearing the works of an author like this (as opposed to a modern churner-out-of-chatter) that one experiences just how powerful words can be.

Only two criticisms drop the rating by one star; both minor. First; the narrator is extremely good, but his rendition of the bright ones was sometimes a bit too sombre for my liking. Having read the book years ago, I pictured those people as being of the type who wouldn't even know the meaning of the word "sombre". Second; well, the Scots character was just too "hoots mon, och aye" for me. But that's because I'm a Scot. If you didn't mind Scottie in "Star Trek", you won't mind this guy either.

Either way, it doesn't matter. The words, and the story overwhelm these minor quibbles. Highly recommended.

Both of these books are excellent, and I loved the reading of them. "Abolition" deals with man's desire to step beyond the Creator's design and create "new" laws of nature. As Lewis points out, this must inevitably lead to the dehumanization of mankind.

IN "The Great Divorce," Lewis once again creates a masterful allegory and challenges us to consider that each decision made in this life has eternal consequences.

I highly recommend this audio book to anyone looking for a few hours of the deep and stimulating reading we've come to expect from C.S. Lewis.

I read "The Great Divorce" many years ago. I just finished listening to this recording of it, and I can't imagine how anyone could do a better job of reading it. My being a Lewis fan makes me critical of those who try to interpret him; this reading is incredible.

The narrator made a good book better capturing the particularities of the book's various characters from the woman who talked endlessly to the Scottish accent of George MacDonald. In the end I am left with the feeling that Hell is filled with post WWII British people.
The book's contents itself gives one plenty of food for thought and a desire to learn more about the Grey town and the country where the grass hurts the newly arrived's feet.